The Gettysburg Address is a speech that U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivered during the American Civil War at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery, now known as Gettysburg National Cemetery, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on the afternoon of November 19, 1863, four and a half months after the Union armies defeated Confederate forces in the Battle of Gettysburg, the Civil War's deadliest battle. It remains one of the best-known speeches in American history.
One of only two confirmed photos of Lincoln (center, facing camera) at Gettysburg taken about noon on November 19, 1863; Lincoln spoke some three hours later. To Lincoln's right is Ward Hill Lamon, his bodyguard.
The written invitation of David Wills, who led the establishment of Soldiers' National Cemetery, inviting Lincoln to speak at Gettysburg
A Harvest of Death Union soldiers dead at Gettysburg, photographed by Timothy H. O'Sullivan, July 5–6, 1863
Edward Everett delivered a two-hour oration before Lincoln's short remarks.
Abraham Lincoln was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman, who served as the 16th president of the United States, from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the United States through the American Civil War, defending the nation as a constitutional union, defeating the insurgent Confederacy, playing a major role in the abolition of slavery, expanding the power of the federal government, and modernizing the U.S. economy.
Lincoln in 1863
The farm site where Lincoln grew up in Spencer County, Indiana
1864 photo of President Lincoln with youngest son, Tad
Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of Abraham Lincoln, in 1861
